


You Promised

by ImagineAvengers



Category: MCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Endgame, Endgame Fic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:00:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26368345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImagineAvengers/pseuds/ImagineAvengers
Summary: That final Endgame scene...with a twist
Relationships: Captain America x Reader, Steve Rogers & Reader
Kudos: 24





	You Promised

“Where the hell is he?”

“I don’t know, he just blew right past his time stamp.”

You exchanged a cautious, terrified, and disbelieving look with Bucky as he stood silently rigid at your side, the two of you waiting for Steve to reappear on the platform in front of you. Banner had told him that he’d see him right back there in that spot and Steve had agreed with one final glance over his shoulder that did its best to reassure you that it would all be okay. Even with that attempt at reassurance, the look on Bucky’s face gave it away and the thing that Steve had promised to never do to you had just happened.

He lied.

Was it a purposeful lie? You didn’t know, but it wasn’t Steve’s style to lie. Not like that, anyway. Sure, he would tell the occasional white lie in a moment of need to save a mission, but he would never lie to you even then. Even if it had meant to save his own life, he just couldn’t do it. That’s why when he said that he’d be back, you believed him.

“Sam.”

It wasn’t your name that Bucky’s voice had carried, but you responded to it, nonetheless. Maybe it was the tone, or the shakiness that he was trying to hide as he spoke, but you couldn’t help it. Your audible gasp at the sight of the almost unrecognizable man on the bench not too far away was loud enough for Sam to pause as he passed by, his hands out and ready to catch you should you crumble in front of him. You could hear the crunch of leaves and branches snapping beneath Bucky’s feet as he moved to your side for that very same reason; they both knew that there was only one way this could go and it might take you down as the final straw after the battle you had all just survived.

You were honestly shocked that it hadn’t. This couldn’t be real. If you hadn’t been there and watched Thanos dissolve into nothing for yourself you would’ve argued to the end of your breath that this one just another one of his reality warping tricks. How could this be real? Steve said he’d be right back and you believed him. Steve doesn’t lie to you. Ever.

But he was right back. He was right there in front of you, only it wasn’t him. 

Not really.

You couldn’t make your feet move, so you let Sam talk to him first, waiting still and silently with Bucky as you delayed your inevitable turn. You waited with no idea as to what you would say; you hadn’t accepted that you were still within reality yet and had come very near to convincing yourself that you were asleep within a nightmare induced by the immensity of the events over the past day. The team had been rebuilt and destroyed again in the span of hours, and the loss of too many of your own sealed your resolve to finally walk away and start your own life the way you wanted. As soon as Steve was supposed to come back, life was going to start. 

But how could you possibly do that now, when the person you were supposed to start your life with was sitting a few feet away at the end of his own? 

“Go ahead,” Bucky whispered, breaking your thoughts, “he’s not here for me or Sam. I don’t have to talk to him to know that.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“That’s okay, I’m sure he does.”

“Yeah,” you sighed, taking your first step, “I know. Can’t wait to hear this one.”

The grass had dried out some from the battle that had decimated the compound, not much of it spared even though it was a fair distance from the epicenter. It crunched beneath your feet as you walked towards Steve, cursing under your breath that you wouldn’t be allowed to silently make a run for it and just hide away from this moment forever. He had heard you now and there was no turning back; even now his senses were as sharp as ever. You had gone too far and had to accept what you were about to see, so you steeled your resolve and finished those final steps, taking a slow and hesitant seat at the furthest end of the bench away from him.

“Steve.”

“Hi, (Y/N).”

“Rough trip?”

“Ha,” he scoffed in barely a hush of breath, “you could say that.”

“Hmm,” you agreed with a nod, “I could say that, sure…but I’d rather hear you give it a shot.” You watched him sit a bit straighter, his muscles clearly sore and his joints aching from the simple movement, but the shock of his age wasn’t the greatest hit to your heart; it wasn’t what robbed you of your reasoning and risked the loss of both your rage and your patience. The shock of his age and nearing the end of his life wasn’t what eviscerated you to your core and finally brought you to tears.

It was the glimmer of sun that reflected from the gold band on his fourth finger.

“Peggy,” you gasped aloud, standing up with a start to step back and away. “You went back for her. You did, didn’t you?”

“(Y/N)-“

“Just tell me the truth, Steve. It’s been a really shitty couple of days and I can’t handle anything other than that.”

“It wasn’t planned,” he pressed, turning towards you with a shaking, frail hand extended, “I swear. Please, sit down and let me explain. Please.”

Whatever it was that he had to say you had to keep yourself alert for the lies that you had heard too many times from partners who were always wrong for you, before Steve had come into your life and made everything feel right. You had heard them all before, every excuse that any of them could come up with just to run the other way.

It’s always been you, I swear. I never planned for this to happen. She isn’t you. It was a mistake.

Steve had been the big relationship in your life, the one that was supposed to stick. The one that made all of the others disappear into the recesses of a locked down memory. He had made all of those old experiences not matter anymore, and he filled the hurt they left behind with new memories that you would now have to file away with the others. He could see in your expression that you were beginning the process of letting him go, and even in his age, his movements were quicker than they should have been and he grabbed your hand to hold you in place before he could lose you. 

“No, I don’t want to sit. I’ll stay, but I’ll stand.”

“Okay, thank you,” he whispered, releasing you and turning to once again face the lake, as if looking at you any longer would only cause him more pain than he could endure even after the life he had lived in countless battles. He never meant for this; that was truth. “I was going to come back,” he began. “I returned the stones just like we planned, and I decided that I had the time to make one quick detour. I wasn’t going to talk to anyone, but I needed one last look to finally let it all go so that I could start a real life. I never had a chance to let that old life go…not really…and I thought that if I could do it even after all this time, then nothing would hold me back from really moving forward…with…w-with you.”

“So, what happened?”

Bucky and Sam stood nearby, both ready to step in should you need them, watching for any shift in your demeanor that could be the start of a spiral that they may not be able to pull you out of. So far, you seemed okay, but neither of your friends were willing to feel safe in their assessment of it just yet.

“I was set to come back, and it just didn’t work. I must have miscalculated and used the last of the particles. I had no way to leave, and no way to get any more.”

“Okay,” you nodded solemnly, “sure, that…that sounds like it’s true.”

“It is,” he turned back emphatically, the rigidity of his form the most obvious it had been, “(Y/N), it’s the complete truth, I promise you that.”

“Please, no more promises. You promised me so many things, and I don’t think that I can take another one of them breaking. But it’s okay, Steve,” you smiled weakly, “I’ll be okay. If nothing else, I’m happy for you.”

“You are?”

“Yeah. If there was no way for you to return, then at least you were somewhere familiar, and that you were able to make her understand what had happened. Anyone else who wasn’t as strong as she was would never have believed you and I’m sure that you wouldn’t be here right now.” You couldn’t look at him anymore, and your gaze dropped to the ground quickly. You wanted to remember your version of him, and to take this moment any further would ruin that for you. You didn’t want to let him go, but what other choice was there? He had left you no options. “I think I have to go now.”

“Okay,” he whispered in reply, looking away again as you had, “I’ll see you around, (Y/N). But please, do something for me?”

“What’s that?”

“Remember that I do love you. That never changed.”

“I love you too, Steve,” you offered, “but that has to change. For me to move on, it has to. It has to start right now.”

He didn’t attempt to say anything more as you stood to leave. He considered one last touch of your hand but he knew that it would give him a only moment of satisfaction and endless pain for you, so he held back. All Steve could do was to watch his lifelong best friend put his arm around you for support as he led you back to what was left of the compound, and he hoped that maybe…just maybe, this all happened for a reason. Maybe that reason was the person who could offer you a future, holding you right now when he no longer could.


End file.
